I Love Book Lists!

I love lists.  I love making my own lists.  I love crossing items off my list (in fact, I will add an item to my list that I have already done, just to cross it off).  I love "Top 10" lists.  And I really, really LOVE book lists.  Imagine my excitement when I came a link on MSN to a list titled "40 Classic Teen Books Every Adult Should Reread".  Here is the link.   Immediately I clicked and was transported back to my youth (far, far back at some points...like, to 1989).  Be forewarned:  there is a very good chance that most of my students probably will not have heard of 80 % of these books.  In fact, the introduction to the slide show reads, "Warning: This ain't your Hunger Games or Harry Potter slideshow. This is a tribute to the forgotten books from your childhood and teen years. The ones that may not have been made into movies, but were just as influential in their own special way."  I personally had read 16 out of 40, which isn't a great percentage, but of those 16, some of them honestly helped shaped my childhood as a reader.



This one actually doesn't need much of an explanation.  This is the second time I can remember crying in school about something I was reading (the first time was during Where the Red Fern Grows, which is also on the list).  This is the gold standard to which I hold all tear-jerkers to this day.



This is the first time I can remember reading about people who were immortal.  Honestly, I don't remember much about the characters, but I have memories of staying up at night, contemplating the ideas of death and immortality.  A little heavy for a sixth-grader, huh?!



I don't think I can put into words how much this book affected me.  Every kid (as far as I know) has either been told by a sibling they are adopted or has pondered the possibility of being adopted, even if it's a completely, 100 % irrational possibility (it usually is).  In this book, Janie is 15 years old and is starting to think about getting her driver's license.  The problem?  She has no birth certificate.  And thus the story begins.  Why doesn't she have one?  Is she really who she always thought she was?

Seeing these books on the list made me want to pick them up and read it them all over again.  Since the title of the list was "40 Classic Teen Books Every Adult Should Reread," I guess the purpose was achieved!  I think it would be really interesting to look at them from my perspective now.

What is a book from your childhood that you would like to go back and reread?  What books do you read now that you think your parents should read?

Happy reading!  :)

It's done...and I'm happy about it.

What's done, you ask?  For those of you who've been following my blog (or listening to my semi-rants in class), you know what I'm talking about.  I finished all three books in The Maze Runner series.  And no, I will not be reading the prequel.  I've had enough.  Why, you ask?  I can't entirely put my finger on it.  Weird, I know....but it just didn't sit well with me.  

Let me start with the positives (and there were several, despite my negative tone in the first paragraph).  The story line was super creative, complex, and well-developed.  After finishing the series, I could tell that the author, James Dashner, knew where he was going to end up when the last book finished, and I appreciate that from a writer.  The characters were round, if not somewhat dynamic, and I especially appreciated Minho's sarcasm throughout.  He and Frypan were my favorites.  The story was overflowing with conflict, which leads me into my biggest problem with the series.  

IT HAD SO MUCH CONFLICT.  I know, I know...stories are supposed to have conflict and lots of it.  A story without conflict is like a picnic without ketchup, Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes, Halloween without Reese's Cups (why am I using so many food references?  I think I'm hungry).  I get it.  But I felt like this book put me through the emotional wringer without a lot of reward or payoff.  I don't want to spoil the series for those of you who haven't read it, so I will say there was a little bit of payoff, but for the most part, it just made me sad.  The world in which they live is so broken, depressed, unhealthy, and cynical.  I had a great quote marked that I was going to put in this post, but unfortunately my digital library loan ended and I lost my highlights (the down side of e-books).  A vast majority of the population has this horrible disease called The Flare, which basically eats your brain and turns you into a crazy, cannibalistic animal.  Ugh.  

Would I recommend this series?  It depends what you're looking for in a book and what type of genre you like.  I think a lot of people would (and do) enjoy reading the story; it just wasn't for me.  

What am I reading now?  A book called The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson.  I really like her other books, especially Speak, which I am sure many of you are familiar with, and this one has been getting a lot of buzz and recognition, so I thought I would try it.  The cheerfulness factor isn't much of a step up from The Maze Runner, as it's about a 17-year-old girl who is trying to deal with her veteran dad's PTSD, but Hayley's voice (she's the main character) is distinct and entertaining.  For example, when she is trying to figure out what kind of text message to send to her friend, with whom she is quite upset, she says, "I sent a simple smiley face, because my phone did not have a smiley face that was wrapping her hands around her own throat and beating her head against a wall" (89).  HA.



What are you reading right now?  Anything good?  Any recommendations for me after this one is done?  Happy reading!

Is it really all it's cracked up to be?

The title of this post refers to the series I am currently reading.  As a warning, this will probably be a controversial post.  Considered yourselves warned!  Soooooo, you may be wondering....is WHAT really all it's cracked up to be?

The Maze Runner by James Dashner (the whole series, really)

Okay, okay, let the protests begin now.  I can handle it.  I'm ready for them.

In all seriousness, I am somewhat enjoying this series.  I'm currently on the second book, The Scorch Trials, and I'm about 40 % of the way through it.  The story line is extraordinarily creative and feels a little bit different from most of the dystopian novels I've read recently (Hunger Games and Divergent among them). I don't want to give anything away (although most of you probably know more spoilers than I do), but James Dashner does keep the plot twists coming, pretty much every chapter.  That, however, is where part of my issue with the series comes from.

It's ALL conflict.  Every single twist, turn, plot event, line of dialogue...there is NOTHING happy in this series so far.  I understand the importance of conflict in a story, believe me.  I am a writing teacher, and in Creative Writing I right now, we are talking about the absolute necessity of a well-developed conflict in our stories.  However, we also talked about how you have to let good things (no matter how small) happen to your characters every now and then in order to keep your reader satisfied.  Warning - potential spoiler alert ahead:  For example, last night as I was reading, I thought maybe Thomas was going to be happily reunited with Theresa and maybe a teeny bit of joy could exist in Thomas' world for 10 seconds, but NO.  Of course not.  Theresa says to Thomas, "'Get away from me, Tom...all of you need to get...away...from me.  Don't argue.  Just leave.  Run.'  Her neck tensed with the effort to get those last few words out" (116).  For those of you who would counter this quote and say, "but she's doing it to protect him!" yes, I realize that, but it's still not a happy situation for Thomas to have to leave her.  So there.

Speaking of the conflict, here is the "official" movie trailer.  I know lots of you have already seen the movie, and I'm looking forward to doing so myself soon!

I will definitely finish The Scorch Trials because I'm too invested NOT to at this point, but I don't know if I will continue on with the rest of the series.  Those of you who have read it - give me your opinions!  Should I keep going?  Will I be rewarded with happiness at some point, or will I continue to be put through the emotional roller coaster that is this series?  I look forward to your comments!

Mrs. Bross' summer reading round-up

Sooooo...I haven't blogged all summer (let's be honest...I didn't think my reading blog would get a whole lot of traffic in the summer!).  BUT I have made up for my lack of blogging with what I think is a respectable amount of reading, especially considering the fact that I have two boys, ages four and one.  I would like to consider this post my "summer reading round-up," with a list of what I read and brief thoughts about each one.

Here are the books I read, in the order I read them, and my thoughts:

1.  Dark Places by Gillian Flynn:  I started this one at the end of the school year and finished it in the summer, so I consider it summer reading.  It was called Dark Places for a reason.  It was dark.  And disturbing.  And pretty horrifying.  I read it at night and I had nightmares.  I would recommend this for mature audiences only, maybe around Halloween.

2.  The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt:  This book won the Pulitzer Prize for literature.  It's almost 800 pages.  While the storyline could be considered to be somewhat cliche (a coming-of-age tale with lots of hardships and struggles), the way the author weaves together the different elements of the main character's life, together with a painting (The Goldfinch) amazed me the whole way through.  A worthwhile read...if you have lots of time on your hands!  FYI, this one has some mature content as well.

3.  The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd:  I don't usually read historical fiction, but when I do, I always remember how much I enjoy it.  This is a book that centers around slavery in the South, however, which always makes for an emotional read.  I enjoyed my time with this book and was especially fond of the main character, Handful (isn't that a great name?!).

4.  Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple:  I loved this book.  I read it because it's one of the choices for 9th-grade summer reading, and I found myself laughing out loud multiple times.  The family is so quirky and unconventional, and I like that the author played with formatting and used emails, journal entries, etc. to keep the story moving.

5.  Looking for Alaska by John Green:  I read The Fault in Our Stars and enjoyed it (as much as you can ENJOY a novel about two teenagers dying from cancer) so I thought I would try another John Green story.  I've found that he has quite the cult following amongst my students, and I wanted to see how his other novels stack up to TFIOS.  My verdict?  Meh.  Pretty predictable and not my favorite characters of all time.  Feel free to disagree angrily, fists shaking in protest.

6.  The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike, #2) by Robert Galbraith (also known as J.K. Rowling):  Loved, loved, loved it.  Loved the first one and couldn't WAIT for the second one to come out.  A little more grisly than I would normally read, but the mystery and storyline was awesome, and I adore the cranky, eccentric main character.  So happy she's going to keep writing more of this series!

7.  QB 1 by Mike Lupica:  I read this because I always have students who like to read Mike Lupica's sports-themed books, and I had no point of reference on them.  I enjoyed this quick little read.  Very cliche, but it made me smile and reminded me exactly of the television show Friday Night Lights, which is one of my all-time favorites.

8.  Behind the Beautiful Forevers:  Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo:  Wow.  This non-fiction book, which explores the contrasting worlds of wealthy progress and the poverty-drenched slums of Mumbai was eye-opening and heartbreaking.  It reads a bit like fiction, which is why it's easy to get distracted from the fact that this truly is the way people in our world today still live.

9.  A Long Way Gone:  Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah:  I wish I hadn't read this right after the previous book.  Wow.  It was a lot of heavy, emotional, gory reading all at one time.  The title is quite self-explanatory, and having two boys myself, I could barely read certain parts, finding myself outraged at what rebels were (maybe still are?) having young boys do over in Sierra Leone.

10.  We Were Liars by E. Lockhart:  I enjoyed this book, primarily because of an unexpected, take-me-completely-by-surprise kind of twist.  I didn't particularly care for the main character (I found her a bit whiny, kind of in a Bella Swan sort of way), but the shock value made the book worth it for me.

11.  If I Stay by Gayle Forman:  Being aware of what my students are reading and being able to talk to them about books is one of my goals of independent reading and blogging, and I thought I might have a few students who had read this book (especially since the movie is coming out).  It reminded me a lot of The Lovely Bones, which I did not like at all.  The idea of the narrator in If I Stay making her decision to live or die just didn't sit particularly well with me for some reason.  I'm currently reading the next one, however (Where She Went), which is narrated by her boyfriend, and I like that one better so far.

There you have it!  My (somewhat lengthy) review of my summer reading!  Thanks for reading the blog post, and I'm looking forward to a great school year of reading and blogging.  What books did you read over the summer that you loved / didn't love so much?  Any recommendations?  Respond with a comment!

Project 5 Task 1

What are the benefits of blogging for students?

I am currently enrolled in a professional development course through University of LaVerne, and the name of my course is "Creating a Google Apps Classroom."  One of the "tasks" I have to complete is to set up a blogger account and create a post about the benefits of blogging for students.  Since I already have a blogger account set up, that part was easy!  The benefits of blogging for students are numerous, but first and foremost, it gives students a larger audience for their writing.  Instantly, it's not just your best friend who gets to hear about the great book you're reading.  It's the entire online community, thus adding a layer of authenticity to the assignment that could not otherwise be achieved.  It also holds students accountable for their work and improves grammar and spelling, since they know they will have a larger audience for their writing.

Click on the link below to access PDC.
www.pdcourses.net

The circus comes to town!

Sidenote - have you ever typed a word and it looked like it was spelled incorrectly?  That's what just happened to me with the word "circus."  Not like that's a hard word to spell...it just didn't look right!  I had to double-check the spelling with the book title!

Which brings me to the actual point of this post, which is to tell you about The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern.  I started this book about two weeks ago, thanks to one of my very generous students who loaned me her copy (shout out to you, Kiersten Colligan!).  I heard rave reviews about it but didn't want to spend the money to get it on my Kindle.  When I mentioned this in class, Kiersten let me borrow her copy.  I'm over a third of the way through (page 187 of 512), and I really do love it.  Why, you ask?  For multiple reasons:

1.  The perspective changes frequently.  Normally, I'm not a big fan of authors doing this because it tends to feel contrived, but this doesn't at all.  Most of the time, it's told in third-person omniscient, so we as the readers know everything about everyone.  It's fun to be all-knowing :).  At times, however, Morgenstern uses second person.  Typically we only see this p.o.v. in those "choose your own adventure" books we read during childhood, but she uses it just enough that you really do feel like you are a part of the circus.  Here's an example of this method:

     "In this tent, suspended high above you, there are people.  Acrobats, trapeze artists, aerialists.  Illuminated by dozens of round glowing lamps hanging from the top of the tent like planets or stars.
     There are no nets.
     You watch the performance from this precarious vantage point, directly below the performers with nothing in between."  (Morgenstern 134).

Pretty cool, huh?

2.  The chapters are short.  I like this because I can read an entire chapter while I'm brushing my teeth at night (two full minutes, thanks to the Sonicare).  When I read a whole chapter, I feel accomplished.  Maybe it seems silly that I use this time to read, but sometimes it's the only two minutes in the whole day I can find!

3.  The characters are odd, quirky, and unexpected (they are circus performers, after all).  I am growing attached to multiple characters and their story lines.

If you want an actual detailed summary of the book, click here.  There is also a quick "Q and A" with the author.  Also, here is a video of Erin Morgenstern, discussing her book:

What are you reading right now?  Any recommendations for my next book?  Thanks, and keep reading!

Firefly Lane book review

This past weekend, I actually had one whole hour to myself, and I was able to read outside, uninterrupted, for that entire hour!  I can't remember the last time that happened, and I enjoyed every second of it.  I used that time to finish Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. The book tells the story of Tully and Kate, two girls who become best friends at the age of 14 in the 1970s and remain best friends for the next three decades.  Here's an excerpt from the summary on the author's website:

For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship---jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they've survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart…and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.

I gave the book three stars out of five on Goodreads for a few different reasons.  My favorite part of the book (and this is going to sound really shallow) had to be all the different descriptions of the clothing and hair styles throughout the years.  I'm definitely not someone who keeps up on the latest fashion trends, but it was fun to read about the high-powered working woman suits of the 80s (complete with shoulder pads):


And popular hairstyles like "The Rachel," from Jennifer Aniston's character on Friends in the 1990s:


Parts of this book were entertaining, and the primary setting was Seattle, which I don't know a lot about, so it was interesting to read and I learned a lot.  However, I didn't particularly care for either of the main characters or their relationship (which is unfortunate, since that's what the book was based around).  Tully is self-centered, prideful, and unapologetic (her rough childhood made her this way, so I get it), and Kate is meek and content to be in Tully's shadow.  Throughout the whole book, both characters yearn for the life the other has (your typical "grass is always greener on the other side" idea), and Kate pretty much lets Tully walk all over her (with brief moments of courage throughout).  All of this wouldn't bother me as much if one or both had been dynamic, but by the end, I didn't really feel like either one of them had changed.  Maybe that was the idea or the goal, and Kristin Hannah wanted to show that they had stayed the same through years of change around them.  I'm not sure.  Also, and I won't give away a spoiler, but the end was hard for me to read because it was extremely emotional and a little too close to something I've experienced recently in my own life.  As I finished the book, I had tears running down my face, and that was not enjoyable to me.

All in all, I enjoyed reading the book as long as I didn't think too hard about it :).  I started The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, so I will be blogging about that soon.

Has anyone else read either of these books?  I would love to know your thoughts!